One form of windsurfer fin box is described in European Patent Specification No. 0 088 430 and includes a box which is located towards the rear of the board and provides a pivot mounting for a fin which projects downwardly below the board and can be fixed in any one of a plurality of selected angular positions.
The degree of adjustability of the fin is, however, limited, the mechanism is complex and the commercial success of this fin box has accordingly been rather limited.
Waterboards having pivotally mounted fins are known from International Patent Specifications Nos. WO 87/04399 and WO 8/09744. Sailboards having a centrally located pivotally mounted centreboard are also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,615 and European Patent Specification No. 0 416 442.
The present invention is, however, specifically concerned with fin box assemblies which are mounted towards the rear of a windsurfer board and to windsurfer boards provided with such fin box assemblies.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of fin box assembly for a windsurfer which is compact, permits ready adjustment of the position of the fin and is more effective than previous fin box designs.
A further object of the invention is to provide a windsurfer including a fin box assembly having an adjustably mounted fin, which windsurfer can be sailed more effectively in a variety of wind conditions than other windsurfers.